One thing that brings me joy each week is logging into Instagram to see what this rabbi and rabbi-to-be are up to. Sam and Rena are the brilliant minds behind the insanely popular Instagram handle @modern_ritual. It has been said that connecting over social media is incomparable to in real life, but Sam and Rena have managed to defy all odds…

Food is one of the most important aspects of any culture, and recipes, especially can connect generations of people. They connect the past with the present and allow us to add to the traditions we were born into, while also making them our own. Food has been one of the most prominent ways in which I’ve blended my Japanese and Jewish cultures, so I’m very excited to share my first Nourish Co. All Day zine with you.

Purim, the most raucous holiday of the Jewish year is coming up on March 20-21. On Purim, we commemorate being saved with drinking, dressing up in costume, storytelling. Every year my tradition is to create a new take on a batch of Hamantaschen cookies, which are triangular, jam-filled cookies. This year, I’ve created Hawaii-inspired macadamia shortbread cookies filled with guava jam, an ode to my Dad’s upbringing in Hawaii. Enjoy!

To symbolize the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days instead of one, Hanukkah foods are fried in oil. Fried foods can often taste really heavy, so I like to swap out all purpose flour with mochi flour (Japanese glutenous rice flour)…

This is a photo of my place of worship. The thought of a gunman opening fire on us while we are at our most vulnerable, in prayer, terrifies me and breaks my heart into a million pieces to even fathom. Here 11 suggestions of actions to take in the coming weeks, so we can hold each other up during this frightening time in our history.

On Saturday, March 10th, 2018, in front of my family and community, I became a bat mitzvah at 33. The service was held in the main sanctuary of oursynagogue, and I stood in the exact spot where my husband and I were married a year and a half before. The rabbi who married us and led me through my Jewish conversion sat in the front row, as I delivered my D’var Torah (word of Torah or sermon). Besides our wedding day, never have I felt so enveloped in love by my entire community.